This invention relates to an HVAC door wherein the motor for pivoting the door is enclosed within a shaft for the door or mounted to a case that houses the door.
HVAC systems are typically included in all modern vehicles. The systems include an air conditioning and heater system for selectively directing heated and cooled air to the cabin of a vehicle as requested by an operator. Among the many components in an HVAC system for modern vehicles are so-called mode and temperature doors. A mode or temperature door is typically positioned along the flow path for air between the HVAC system and the vehicle cab.
One type of door controls what outlets the air is directed to. The outlets distribute air to the face, to the feet, or to defrost. Thus, the operator must select for the air to be directed to the “face,” to the “feet” or to some combination. A mode door pivots upon the request by an operator to direct the air as requested. A second temperature door application either directs all heated, all cooled, or some mixture of heated and cooled air to the cab to meet the temperature requested by the operator.
To date, these doors have been powered by solenoids, or other relatively complicated and large actuators containing a worm drive or similar gearbox. These mode or temperature door actuators are often mounted in crowded space, such as the vehicle instrument panel. Thus, it would be desirable to reduce the size of the actuators.
So called “wave drive” technology, such as shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 2,906,143, is known, and has been proposed for many applications. One application is the selectively opened or closed vents leading from an HVAC channel into the cab of a vehicle. However, prior to the invention disclosed in this application, applicant is unaware of the use of such a wave drive motor to drive a mode or temperature door door.